


Why Are You Here?

by enter_creative_username



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bromance, Dialogue Heavy, Drunk Steve Harrington, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Friend Robin Buckley, How Do I Tag, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Lesbian Robin Buckley, Light Angst, Male-Female Friendship, Nightmares, No Slash, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Steve Harrington Has PTSD, Steve Harrington Is a Mess, Swearing, i live for their friendship, no beta we die like men, well kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23644603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enter_creative_username/pseuds/enter_creative_username
Summary: “What the hell is wrong with you, dingus?” Robin responds, surveying the hysterical boy on her floor. “Are you drunk?”Steve smiles.“Not really” he slurs.Robin rolls her eyes, and crosses her room to flip the light switch. There’s no way she is getting back to sleep now.
Relationships: Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington
Comments: 5
Kudos: 95





	Why Are You Here?

Robin is startled awake by the sound of knocking against her window. It seems that even the smallest sounds wake her nowadays, but this sound is loud and persistent. Her hand instinctively goes to the switchblade she now keeps beside her bed. She grabs it firmly in her hand and sits up, ready to fight off any attackers if need be. It’s still closed, but her thumb rests readily on the button. 

She turns to the window, squinting to see in the darkness. It had been a cloudy day, so there isn’t much light from the stars. She brings her free hand to her chest, feeling her heart frantically thump against her fingers. She pads forward on bare feet, her head turning back and forth to survey her surroundings. 

“Hey,” Steve says, waving to Robin through the glass. She jumps at the sudden noise dropping her switchblade to the carpeted floor. Her heart nearly leaps out of her chest. 

She goes over to the window. It sticks a bit in the summer due to the heat, but she manages to force it open. 

“Steve, you scared the shit out of me.” She groans, A rush of warm air floods into her room. Somehow these late August days are even hotter than those in July. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles, clambering through Robin’s window. Once he’s through he falls to the floor, laughing.

“What the hell is wrong with you, dingus?” Robin responds, surveying the hysterical boy on her floor. “Are you drunk?” 

Steve smiles. 

“Not really” he slurs. 

Robin rolls her eyes, and crosses her room to flip the light switch. There’s no way she is getting back to sleep now.

“Stop! Turn it off.” Steve yells, shielding his eyes. 

“Will you cool it? My parents are sleeping.” 

“Parents,” Steve says, “what a concept?” 

Robin sits down on her bed, pulling a stuffed bear into her lap. Steve is still laying on the carpet, but now he’s fiddling with one of her notebooks, absentmindedly flipping through the pages. 

“Don’t think you need the ruby slippers, Dorothy, you’re already home.” Steve murmurs.

For a brief moment Robin thinks Steve must have completely lost it, but looking down she notices she’s wearing an oversized Wizard of Oz t shirt that falls nearly to her knees. She smiles, rubbing her thumb over the picture of the slippers. 

“Says the munchkin wearing two different shoes.” She says, playfully kicking his arm. 

He looks back at his feet and notices he’s wearing one white sneaker on his left foot and a brown boot on his right. He blinks, his mind not fully comprehending. 

“You OD down there, dingus?” Robin asks, tossing the stuffed bear at Steve’s head.

“Nope, just admiring my new fashion statement.”

Robin smirks. 

“Is the statement, ‘I’m a dumbass’?” 

“Fuck you.” Steve laughs in return, throwing the teddy bear back in Robin’s face. 

Steve refocuses his attention on the notebook in front of him and Robin sighs. They don’t speak for a few minutes, each running through the thoughts in their heads.

“Why are you here, Steve?” Robin asks eventually, letting her curiosity take hold. 

The atmosphere noticeably changes. Steve’s shoulders tense and his stupid grin falls away. 

“Just visiting.”

“At four in the morning?”

Steve hums in response, flipping another page. His eyes move lazily over the words, trying to comprehend what it says. 

“What language is this?” He asks. 

“Italian. I’m trying to get better at writing it.” 

Steve audibly groans, mumbling a quiet “nerd” and tosses the notebook to the floor. He pulls himself up from the floor, flopping down next to Robin on her bed. He traces his fingers over the blue flowers dotting the comforter Steve knows Robin hates. In fact, most of Robin’s room seems unlike her. It’s covered with flowers and frills and all that girly stuff. Robin has tried to combat that by hanging up band and movie posters, but her room still doesn’t feel like hers. It’s like she’s an imposter hunkering down in someone else’s room. Someone like Nancy. 

“I don’t like your room.” Steve mutters. “It’s not you.” 

Robin lies down beside Steve, staring up at the creme colored ceiling. 

“I don’t like it either, but I’ll be off to college in a year and my dorm will look way better. Less Hawkins-y.” 

Steve doesn’t respond. He’s still staring up at the ceiling. The two of them are quiet for a while, just content with being together. Despite how terrible things have been, at least they found friendship in each other. Trauma really does bond people.

Robin turns her head, so she’s facing Steve. His eyes are shining with tears that he’s furiously blinking back. Robin decides not to say anything. Steve would never admit to crying. 

“You’ve got so much ahead of you, Robin.” He says, “You’re going to go out in the world and make a difference. You’re going to leave this town and be successful.” 

Robin chuckles. 

“You make it sound like I’m going to go and solve world hunger.” 

Steve shoves her shoulder, an empty laugh escaping his lips. 

“What I mean is, you’re going to become something. And I’m just… not.”

Steve’s hands are entwined on his chest, to keep them from shaking, Robin presumes. He’s scared. It’s something Robin had noticed from the moment she first met Steve. The careless arrogance from years before is replaced with a constant nervousness that practically radiates off him. The upside down stuff has changed him. Both of them.

He continues, voice wavering slightly. 

“I’m just going to stay in this stupid town and amount to nothing. I mean for fucks sake I couldn’t even get into college. And how am I supposed to just go out and live a normal life when I can’t even sleep through the night without waking up, screaming about monsters.” 

“Steve—“

“And every day it just gets worse and worse, and it’s not like I can go to some fucking shrink and say ‘I can’t even sleep let alone leave this town because I’m constantly afraid that some monster or evil Russians or whatever is going to come kill everyone I —’”

“Why are you here, Steve?”

Robin halts Steve mid sentence, leaving him wide eyed with lips parted. He swallows down a lump in his throat, and faces his best friend.

“I was dreaming about when we got tor— captured. They beat the shit out of you, b-but you were still yelling at them. So they untied you and held you in front of me and then just sh-shot you.”

Steve throws his hand over his mouth, muffling the cries that follow soon after. Tears are streaming down his reddened cheeks, and he shudders intensely. Still, he continues.

“And I c-couldn’t save you! I just watched you die and I didn’t save you. So then when I woke up, I just, I didn’t even think, I just came here. I needed to be sure you weren’t d-dead. I had to know you were okay.” 

Robin is still looking at him once he finishes his story. He’s crying uncontrollably now, practically hyperventilating as he relives what happened. Robin’s never seen Steve like this, not even when the two of them were doomed to die in a secret Russian base. Not even when Hopper died. Steve’s never cried in front of her, or even stuttered, so she can’t help it when she feels nothing but shock, watching her best friend break down beside her. She wills her brain to think of something to say, but she’s left with nothing. She’s never been good at comforting people, always either freezing or babbling on about something unimportant. 

Robin bites her lip, hoping she’s making the right decision. 

Wordlessly she outstretches her hand, connecting it with Steve’s free one. She wraps her fingers delicately around his hand, and squeezes it. His hand is soft, twitching slightly within her grasp. 

Looking at his face, she realizes he’s smiling through the tears. She knows there isn’t much she can do about the nightmares and pain, but she’ll try her damned hardest to help him through it. Even if that means just holding his hand. 

Once Steve’s tears begin to subside, Robin decides to speak, her brain finally slowing down enough to form the right words. It feels like they’ve been lying silently together for hours with their fingers intertwined. Robin glances at the digital clock resting on her nightstand. It reads 4:46am. 

“I think you’re going to get out of this town.” She says, returning her gaze to the ceiling. 

“You do?” He asks. Their hands disconnect. 

“Yeah. You’re destined for great things, Steve Harrington, even if you don’t believe it. We’ll get out of this town together.” 

Steve chuckles, swiping away at the remaining tears. 

“And where would we go, Robin Buckley?” 

“New York.” Robin responds, without hesitation. 

Steve sits up so he’s sitting cross-legged next to Robin. His eyes are still red, and the scent of alcohol still hangs on his breath, but he seems calmer than he was before.

“Why New York?” 

“I don’t know,” Robin turns to face him, leaning on her elbow. “I’ve just always wanted to go.” 

“And what would you do there? What’s Robin’s master plan?” 

“You’re gonna laugh.” She mutters.

“Well, now you have to tell me.”

Robin thinks for a moment but ultimately gives in. 

“You know how Broadway shows have an orchestra. And they’re really important to the show, but all eyes aren’t on them the whole time. I mean, I couldn’t have thousands of eyes on me while I play, I’d freak. Plus the theater community is just so nice and understanding and they wouldn’t care that I’m ga— different. I’d feel like I’m part of a family, you know? A family that accepts all of me. ” 

Steve can’t help notice the way Robin’s eyes light up as she talks about it. He can’t remember a time when he still had hope like that. He likes to think he was once like that too, eager to leave this town and face the world. Maybe before he realized his parents were assholes or before he became Hawkins resident monster fighter. Nonetheless, that hope is gone now. But he’s glad Robin still has it. 

“I think that’s a good plan.” He responds.

“It’s stupid. There’s no way I’d ever even be good enough.” Robin admits, tracing her finger over the blue flowers. 

“Robin, you’ve been playing instruments since you were like five,” Steve exclaims, “so you’d definitely make it into one of those shows.” 

Steve pauses, a mischievous smile creeping onto his lips. 

“And I could always threaten the coach with my nail bat.”

Robin grins, carding a hand through her hair. She’s never had a friend that cared so much for her, even after she rejected him. 

“It’s a conductor, dingus, but thanks for the offer. And what do you think you’d do in New York?” 

“I don’t know.” 

Silence overtakes them again. Steve glances out the window. The sky is beginning to lighten now, and the birds have begun their morning singing. They both know he has to leave soon. Robin’s parents love Steve, but they’d kill him if they saw him now. He stands up and wordlessly makes his way back towards the window, his back facing Robin. He still has scars on his back from that night. Robin’s got her fair share of scars too. 

“I think you’re going to be okay. Whatever you end up doing or where, I bet you’ll be happy.” Robin says, halting Steve in front of the window.  
He turns his head, looking at her from over his shoulder. He smiles. 

“Thanks, Robin.” 

“Don’t mention it, dingus.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Let me know what you think in the comments. I tried my best (lol). Stay home, and stay safe!


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